Hello

Hello to all members on Delcampe. I am an avid postcard collector (many different subjects) and have been buying from the site for some time now. I feel awful having a gripe on my first post, but I feel so strongly about it , I have to "get it off my chest" and also wish to get the dufferent points of view from other members.
It is a rule of Paypal that if one accepts paypal, that one pays the fees. One cannot charge the buyer for one's fees, according to paypal themselves, it is against their rules, but Delcampe totally ignore this mal -practice.
By accepting to use paypal, one accepts their rules and agrees to abide by them and this is one of them, yet on Delcampe this practice is the norm. I personally know of no other website where one can buy goods using paypal, that adds the charges for their fees for accepting paypal payments.

Hello Wassail. and a belated welcome

I agree with your statement about PayPal fees, and until Delcampe do something positive about it (don't hold your breath) the only thing to do is boycott such sellers - they'll soon get the message

That apart, there are many good postcard sellers on this site who don't make extra charges, so look around carefully and don't be put off

Thank you so much for your reply, I am interested to hear all points of view. However I do buy and sell on other sites and I certainly don't charge customers MY fees! I sent a message to Delcampe reminding them that by recommending Paypal they too are responsible and should prevent sellers from doing this. They said they ignored it as it is the transaction between buyers & sellers, but it is their site! I checked with paypal about this and they said it is totally against their agreement with the account holder and it should be stopped, it is in fact abusing their system and how it is used.
Regarding transaction. It is between two or more people and there are two rmain responsibilities. One for the buyer the other the seller.
A very clear Paypal (and Ebay) rule is that upon entering any transaction the buyer agrees to pay the seller for the goods, and postage ,within a reasonable time. Once done , the responsibility of the buyer within the transaction ends.
The seller's responsibility within the transaction, is to get the goods to the buyer, and I quote" until the goods are in the hands of the buyer, the SELLER /or sender is solely responsible." They said this is the "globally accepted even regarding the mail services."
So, I checked this with the mail services, for their version of this , here in the UK , inSwitzerlan ( because it is out of the european Union) and America, and they assured me that it is GLOBALLY accepted, that it is the SENDERS responsibility to ensure that goods get to the buyer or indeed any mail whatsover, and that is why globally only a sender can initiate a search if the items go astray. They all said exactly the same thing, and that is why Paypal adhere to that rule. I even have it in writing from them. So the rules and acceptance of the mailing services are exactly the same the whole world over, as Paypal and any other such companies.

I've had the same argument with other sellers in the past when they have tried to shift responsibility for tracking non-arrival of mail from themselves - they often say "check with the local sorting office" or some such lame excuse - my 'local' sorting office is 40 miles away and wouldn't be interested in doing anything even if I could contact them

As I seller I accept responsibility for all mail I send and follow up any reports of non-arrival including refunding payment in full if things never turn up (very rarely does this happen though) - I just wish buyers would record the fact that things have arrived even if they can't be bothered with feedback, just so I can close the transaction off my system

It seems we are in perfect agreement! People seem confused about "tracking" too. Also, sending by registered mail does not guarantee safe delivery . I had over 300 euros worth of postcards sent to me this way and they "disappeared" believed stolen. The seller was compensated of course by the country's mail service, I was offered "half", but I refused it. Despite the sellers efforts to the contary, Paypal ensured I received all of my payment back.
The USA for example, will not allow the sender to initiate a search for any lost item if it was sent to a European Union country , but did not have a customs label on it. Likewise the UK or any other EU country, is the same, if sending to a Non-European Union country. If packets / mail go astray here, it is sent to a central place in Ireland for mis-directed mail. They try for quite a few months to find the sender or the intended recipient, and if unable they put the goods for auction and the money goes to charity. Unlike America, who simply destroy the contents! This info from the Central place in Ireland.